Stories of
American Heroes -
Brought to you from the "Home of Heroes" - Pueblo, Colorado

John Henry Cook

TAPS

Fading light dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky,
Gleaming bright.
From afar drawing nigh,
Falls the night.

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lake, From the hills,
From the sky.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.

Then good night, Peaceful night,
Till the light of the dawn
Shineth bright,
God is near, do not fear,
Friend, good night.

Woodlawn Cemetery

Born:July 19, 1840 at London, England

Entered
Service in the US Army from Quincy, IL

Earned The Medal of Honor During the Civil War For heroism
April 09, 1864 at Pleasant Hill, LA

Died:July
22, 1916 at the age of 76

Sergeant John
Henry Cook was detailed as a clerk at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana,
when the Union soldiers came under attack by Confederate forces.
"The thought of being a noncombatant was distasteful,"
he later wrote, and so, arming myself with a Sharps rifle, I
took my place as sergeant in the rear of my company." In
his impromptu role, Sergeant Cook had no supplies and only forty
rounds for his rifle. In the advance that followed Sergeant
Cook's commander, Lieutenant Jack Ware, took control of the
skirmish line and ordered him to lead the center of the line.
Acting as an officer, Sergeant Cook valiantly led the line
forward, firing all forty rounds of ammunition. With his rifle
empty, he raised it in his right had and, waving his hat in his
left, "ran forward cheering on the boys. I felt a good deal
as General Corse expressed himself in his famous dispatch to
General Sherman: 'I am out of provisions, I have lost and ear
and part of a cheek-bone, but I can whip all hell yet."
Sergeant Cook's valiant leadership enabled his men to capture a
large number of prisoners and force back the rebel line.